


Erased

by starryeyedchar



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Does this count as character death, Hurt/Comfort, If you don't know the AU then check it out because this is supposed to be before all that jazz, Lost Lance AU, M/M, based on the, not my idea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-04
Updated: 2017-06-04
Packaged: 2018-11-09 01:10:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11093766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starryeyedchar/pseuds/starryeyedchar
Summary: Keith still hadn’t wanted to believe it. They’d looked anyway, but every time they came up empty-handed. Slowly but surely, they’d been forced to accept that Lance was truly gone.Keith had been forced to shove down and ignore the small part of him that insisted on Lance being alive, somehow. Somewhere.It all just felt so wrong. They’d finally defeated the Galra empire. The galaxies finally freed of Lotor’s corrupt regime. Everyone in the universe was celebrating. Everyone, except four humans and two Alteans living in a castle that felt much too quiet.





	Erased

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kaxpha](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaxpha/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Lost Lance AU](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/296067) by kaxpha. 



> This is a story BASED ON the Lost Lance AU which BELONGS TO @kaxpha on tumblr and it's AMAZING and everyone should check it out. It's based on a world-building post and an animatic, go check those out (I linked them on my post for this which I actually posted a while ago but I'm just moving it here now)

Lance’s leg was bent at an awkward angle, and every time he got the nerve to look at it just made him feel worse than before. 

Hunk had suffered a few bruised ribs at the very least, and it was likely Pidge received a minor concussion. One of Shiro’s legs had been grazed by a laser, and Keith seemed to be the only one of the five of them who could still stand on two feet.

But Lance couldn’t remember a time when he’d ever felt happier. Because they’d finally _done_ it.

They’d taken down Prince Lotor, heir to the all-powerful Galra empire. He kneeled on the ground, hands clutching his stomach. Lance couldn’t help but feel a bit smug at that— he was the one to land a shot there.

Keith stumbled forward, one hand clutched to his still bleeding eye, the other holding his activated bayard firmly. He glanced back at the blue paladin, looking somewhere between concerned and overjoyed.

Lance, who could care less about the pain in his leg at this point, offered his best smile of encouragement. Keith nodded, and took a staggering step towards the Galra Prince.

They’d discussed it beforehand. Keeping him conscious while they took him back to Coran and Allura was too dangerous. Lotor was in no condition to keep fighting, and so Keith had naturally stepped up to deliver the final blow, so they could confine him and put him in space jail, or wherever criminals of the known universe went to do time. Lance had no idea.

He could barely contain his joy. Against all odds, they’d made it. The seven of them, from the beginning. The Voltron team had finally finished what they’d started what now seemed like so long ago.

Thoughts of Earth plagued his mind, of the rain, the ocean, the clouds. Finally getting to see his family again, telling them all he’d been through, returning as a hero, introducing them to his team.

Introducing them to Keith.

The happy images fizzled out when Lance realized that Lotor was smiling. Keith was giving some elaborate speech about right and wrong, and the prince just grinned eerily, as if he were in on some secret joke.

A chill ran down Lance’s spine, but he saw nothing wrong with the situation. Keith had his bayard raised, ready to strike. Lotor hadn’t even lifted a finger to defend himself, probably knowing that it was hopeless—

Lance’s gaze snapped to Lotor’s hands, still firmly pressed against his stomach. He immediately saw the purple glow, gradually glowing brighter. A quick glance around the room was enough to tell him no one else had noticed it.

Lance’s brain started going a mile a minute.

Keith was standing nearby, but Lotor’s hand was already moving with Keith completely oblivious. Any warning Lance gave would be too late for the red paladin to move, if his voice even worked after that fight. What would happen if that blast hit Keith?

Lance wasn’t about to wait around to find out.

He made a split-second decision, adrenaline numbing the pain in his leg enough to allow him to stand and rush forward. Lance used all his energy in that one burst of speed. He didn’t push Keith out of the way so much as collapse against him, but it was enough.

When Lotor raised his hand to expel the purple light that’d been quickly building up, Lance was the one standing in its path.

Keith fell unceremoniously to the ground, and turned around to look at Lance with that frustrated yet amused glare the blue paladin loved so much, before his purple eyes widened in fear. “Lance, what—”

That was as far as he got before a scream ripped through the air.

Lance had no idea _who_ was screaming, but he guessed it was probably him due to the rawness of his throat. The voices of his teammates just sounded like white noise through the blood rushing in his ears, his entire field of vision consumed by the blinding light. 

Everything he saw, heard, and felt was just pain, pain, pain. Lance thought the explosion from Sendak was bad, but this was as if every cell in his body had been lit on fire.

And then… nothingness.

* * *

The purple glow receded just as abruptly as it had come, but it still took Keith’s eyes a second to focus.

When they did, the first thing he caught sight of was Lotor. Unable to summon the energy to remain upright any longer, the prince had collapsed onto the floor. And he was laughing.

Panicked, Keith surveyed the room. While the other Paladins seemed unharmed, Lance was nowhere in sight. His bayard and helmet lay discarded on the floor where he’d been sitting before he…

“LANCE?” Hunk’s broken voice called across the room, confusion and fear evident in his voice.

“What… what the _fuck_ just happened?” Pidge asked, trying to push herself into a standing position.

Keith wasted no time in diving towards Lotor. He yanked him up by the collar, forcing him to meet Keith’s eyes.

“Where _is_ he?” Keith demanded, voice dangerous. “What did you do to him?”

It was with another laugh that Lotor responded. “He’s dead.”

A collective gasp was the only noise, everyone too stunned to say anything for a moment.

Keith steeled himself, refusing to believe it even as the words caused his heart to drop. “You’re lying,” he shook his head. “Tell us where he is, _now_.”

Lotor couldn’t seem to stop laughing. “That spell I used? It erases the target from the universe. No blood, no remains, no mess. Just _gone_. You’ll never see your precious blue paladin again,” he smiled at Keith. “It’s a shame, really. You loved each other so much. To think you were so close to your happy ending.”

Keith was unable to stop the scream of outrage from escaping, but he didn’t care. He threw himself at Lotor, for once not holding back. He tossed his bayard aside, going in with his fists and hitting him again, and again, and _again_.

“YOU’RE WRONG!” he found himself screaming. “YOU’RE WRONG, HE CAN’T BE DEAD, HE CAN'T—”

Arms wrapped around him, pulling him backwards. Keith kicked and thrashed, but his protests were ignored by Shiro. Lotor had long since fallen unconscious, and his blood covered Keith’s hands.

“KEITH!” Shiro was yelling over Keith’s own enraged cries. “Keith, this is Lotor we’re talking about! He’s got to be lying. If Lance had died, there would be a body. He’s not just gone, that’s impossible, but he could be very injured. We need to get Lotor back to Allura so we can find Lance through the bond.”

Keith nodded, though his entire body felt numb. But of course Shiro was right. He ignored the small part of him that whispered Lotor was telling the truth, and scooped up Lance’s bayard and helmet, resolving to return them if— _when_ they found Lance. So they all returned to the castle, carrying Lotor with them.

The second they saw Allura and Coran, however, Keith knew something was wrong.

Allura’s hands covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face. Coran’s head rested on the front control panel, shoulders shaking with silent cries. They both looked up to see the four remaining paladins, and Allura let out a broken sob.

“It’s fine,” Pidge said quickly. “Lotor hit Lance with some blast that teleported him or something, but we just need to find him.”

“Find him?” Allura asked, confusion evident in her voice. “He’s… Lance is dead.”

* * *

_Weeks_.

Weeks, and weeks of scouring the universe, searching for any sign of Lance, even trying in vain to communicate with the blue lion.

Weeks and weeks of nothing.

Allura had explained to them that she felt the bond sever, that Lance’s connection with the blue lion had been destroyed. The only way that would happen was if the paladin died.

But Keith still hadn’t wanted to believe it. They’d looked anyway, but every time they came up empty-handed. Slowly but surely, they’d been forced to accept that Lance was truly gone.

Keith had been forced to shove down and ignore the small part of him that insisted on Lance being alive, somehow. Somewhere.

It all just felt so wrong. They’d finally defeated the Galra empire. The galaxies finally freed of Lotor’s corrupt regime. Everyone in the universe was celebrating. Everyone, except four humans and two Alteans living in a castle that felt much too quiet.

The team went to party after party on the newly liberated planets, all in mourning black.

There had even been a funeral.

The team sent all Lance’s photographs, his helmet, his bayard, and his clothes from Earth off in a pod. Even if his body was gone, they needed some sort of closure.

Keith caught Hunk and Pidge installing a tracker in the pod, just in case Lance returned and wanted his blue lion slippers back. He promised he wouldn’t tell the others, if he was allowed to keep Lance’s jacket. In truth, he wouldn’t have told them anyway.  Keith was glad that it wasn’t just him who still held hope for Lance’s return.

But Allura insisted they stop looking, assuring them that if Lance were still alive, she’d be able to feel it.

Keith wore Lance’s hoodie as he stared up at the stars, and he drew it tighter around himself.

The last time he’d been here on the observation deck, Lance accompanied him. The blue paladin talked happily about how great it would be to introduce his family to the love of his life, how Keith would love all of them, the possibility of a future together on Earth far away from that miserable little shack in the desert.

Now Keith was alone, wondering what he would say when they made the inevitable return trip.

Your grandson piloted the blue lion. Your nephew saved the universe. Your brother was a hero.

Your son is dead.

And Keith loved him.

His mind was plagued with everything he could’ve done differently. If Keith could go back and change it, he’d kill Lotor on the spot. The prince was locked away with the Blade of Marmora, no doubt enduring interrogation after interrogation.

To Keith, it wasn’t anywhere near enough for what he’d done. Not when his actions had cost Keith the best part of his life.

A voice startled him out of his thoughts.

“Do you ever realize how far we’ve come?” Hunk asked, coming to stand beside Keith on the deck.

Keith didn’t turn around, he couldn’t. A tear slipped down his cheek from his good eye, uninvited.

“I mean, look at where we are,” Hunk continued, voice breaking. “It’s been so long since we started out, but it feels like just yesterday Lance was flying us all out into space in the blue lion.”

Hearing his name sent a renewed jolt of pain through Keith, and he whirled around to leave. But Hunk caught his arm.

“Hear me out?” Hunk’s voice was barely a whisper now. “That’s… that’s all I ask.”

Keith simply stood still, as the tears continued to fall.

“If I could go back and change what happened that day, I’d make sure his life was spared,” Hunk sounded on the verge of crying himself now, and a sob escaped Keith’s lips before he could stop it.

He turned to see that tears streamed down the yellow paladin’s face as well.

“If… if I could trade his life for mine,” Hunk pressed a hand to his chest, a sad smile making its way onto his face. “Then he’d be standing here with you, right now. And you’d… you’d both be smiling. He always knew how to make you smile, no matter what.”

Keith saw it in his mind’s eye for a minute. The war over, Lance looking at the stars with him. Laughing to themselves as they talked about their future. Together.

“If you guys got your happy ending,” Hunk said softly, as if he could see it, too. “Then that’d be enough.”

He held open his arms, and Keith collapsed into them with sobs wracking his body. They stayed there like that, just the two of them on the balcony, mourning the boy from Cuba who shined the brightest in both of their lives. Whose light was extinguished too soon.

* * *

Galaxies away, someone woke up. A boy, scared, injured, and alone with only one word that seemed to have any connection to the past he couldn’t remember.

_Blue_.


End file.
